First Baptist Church of Dallas is making a list this Christmas,
and lots of people will be checking it.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress, the church's pastor, announced Tuesday
the launch of www.GrinchAlert.com. There people can post on a
"naughty" list the names of businesses that aren't acknowledging
Christmas through store displays, advertising and greetings to
customers.

"Too many businesses have bowed down to political correctness,"
Jeffress said. "I thought this would be a fun way to call out
businesses that are refusing to celebrate Christmas."

The website also features a "nice" list for recognition of
businesses that do observe Christmas.

The pastor reported the launch on KCBI-FM (90.9), the church's
radio station, and said the station will give early-morning updates
on which businesses are listed.

Jeffress said First Baptist has not set standards for naughty or
nice and does not plan to monitor the site to protect businesses
owned by non-Christians.

"We're simply providing a forum," he said. "People may post
whether they believe a business or organization ought to be on the
naughty or nice list. We're not making that determination."

Not so sure

The website brought swift criticism from William Lawrence, dean
of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist
University.

"The appropriate thing for Christians to do at this time of year
is to find new and more effective ways to extend the love and peace
of the season to others, not to insist that such enterprises as
commercial businesses put up Christmas trees," Lawrence said.

Jews weighed in, too.

"Rather than honoring Christmas, this kind of campaign feels
meant to remind me and people like me we are second-best members of
this society," said Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis of Congregation Kol Ami
in Flower Mound.

Dennis added: "Christmas currently has, and will continue to
have, virtual hegemony over the cultural, religious and economic
life of Americans at this time of year. I realize every movement
needs an issue to rally around. How about 'Love your neighbor as
yourself'?"

Zachary Moore, executive director of the religious skeptics
group Fellowship of Freethought Dallas, went further: "I would say
that it's unfortunate that some Christians are trying to resort to
economic terrorism during a season in which their own Scriptures
exhort 'good will toward men.' It's also a crass intersection of
commercialism and religion. Why should local businesses have to bow
and scrape to Christianity, or indeed any religion?"

"This is about freedom, free speech and voting with your
pocketbooks," said Shackelford, whose organization litigates on a
range of religious freedom issues.

But the church's use of "Grinch" with the website upset Donald
Pease, a Dartmouth College professor and biographer of Theodor "Dr.
Seuss" Geisel, who wrote How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Pease said that the story is about "enabling the heart to grow
larger," and that the famous author wanted to "draw the deepest
sense of fellowship" out of the holiday.

"Ted Geisel would have loathed, I believe, this usage of the
Grinch story to somehow sharpen axes or to reconsolidate some kind
of opposition," Pease said.

Leading First Baptist

Since being chosen pastor of First Baptist in 2007, Jeffress has
led the 13,000-member downtown church on a major fundraising and
building campaign. He's also made news by preaching a sermon titled
"Why Gay Is Not OK" and decrying Islam as an evil religion.

With GrinchAlert, Jeffress disputed that he and the church are
trying to do something negative.

"We meant this as a fun campaign," he said. "This is not a
ham-fisted approach to coerce people. It's simply a way to remind
people that this is a special holiday."

In the website's first hours, only a few names made the list,
most in the Nice category.

But the Tarrant County town of Crowley got a Naughty designation
for having a "Happy Holidays" sign.

Truitt Gilbreath, city manager, said the sign is about 10 years
old and goes up every Thanksgiving and stays up through
Christmas.

"It wasn't meant to dodge anything," he said. "It was simply to
recognize the season."

He noted that Crowley has a Christmas parade and that this year
the city hosted a sale of decorated Christmas trees that benefited
a local charity.

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